A Tiny Nudge Over the Edge
by Kali-san
Summary: After missing a chance to nab Naruto...again...Uchiha Itachi is paired up with a new partner. Once with the knowledge of where he is and how to get him. There's only one thing....They hate each other.
1. Chapter 1

_**A Tiny Nudge Over the Edge…..**_

_**And a one-way ticket to Hell**_

_**Chapter One**_

_Author's Note: _

_Eeeeep! So sorry for how short this chapter is. Tsk tsk me! Ah well, at least I got the story moving. The next chapter WILL be longer. I promise. I know, because I already have it written. xD Anywho, read and review or both Kali and Itachi will come after you. And trust me, that's not a good thing. Hope your not afraid of hanging upside down inside a closet for months. . And, ah……That's all! ENJOY!_

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_'She's hesitating…' The raven-haired nin thought of his opponent. Eyeing the kunoichi with a well trained blood-red eye, he could tell she wouldn't be a cakewalk, but not an extremely hard match. Ha. That almost made him laugh. Almost. No one was a tough opponent for the eldest living Uchiha. It might take him a few minutes, but of course, chopping down an ANBU was always fun._

_Not bothering to even provide himself with cover, Itachi stood in an almost relaxed position. In one fluid motion, he held at least eight kunai in his right hand. _He sent all but one knife cutting the air, listening to the quiet sigh of the parting air. The other was kept in a grip like a mouse in a snake's bind. He leapt backwards and waited in a fighting stance.

His opponent dodged the seven kunai quickly and took to the trees. She always had favored trees over fighting on the ground. Brushing back a few strands of black hair out of her mask's eye slits with a scarred hand, she mumbled quietly to herself. "Don't let him into Konoha, Kali, don't even let him get close to it." She mumbled quietly to himself.

Itachi looked up, gave his trademark smirk and appeared behind her in a heartbeat. Holding the kunai to her throat, he pressed just hard enough to let a few drops of blood run down the metal. The next thing he knew, he was about to chop off half a tree branch and Kali was on the ground. Leaping down and landing in a still deadly position.

Kali assumed a more defensive stance and watched him like a hawk eyeing it's prey. Her breathing was quieted and she appeared almost relaxed. Though it was simply her tired muscles giving up. How pitiful two minutes into a fight and she was a freakin limp noodle!

Itachi ran his fingers through his hair. He started side-stepping around Kali like pirates in a sword fight. Kunai at the ready, sharp eyes alert. Like Captain Jack Sparrow and Will Turner in a duel for Jack's freedom! Or not. Itachi smirked demonically.

Kali jumped back to the left and ran for him again. Her kunai flashed as she moved it quickly towards him. Aiming for his left shoulder, just so she wouldn't have to worry about him using that arm much.

The Uchiha checked the sun's position. It was fairly late now. His mission was to capture the Kyuubi and report back to the rest of Akatsuki. He couldn't fail again. Not again. First, Asuma, Kurenai, Kakashi and Gai tried to stop him. Then Jiraiya and little Sasuke. He forgot the rest. But he'd been stopped so many times and it couldn't happen again

Kali danced away from him, careful not to stumble and fall back. "At least pay attention to a fight. Besides, you're going to have to kill me if you plan on getting into Konoha in one piece."

"My attention is needed elsewhere. My apologies for a dishonorable spar." He didn't actually mean it. Itachi turned on his heel and stalked off rather quickly. _Now to find Naruto-kun..._This should be rather easy. He'd either be eating at that ramen shop, or sparring with the last (sane) Uchiha: Sasuke.

Kali groaned and dropped to her knees. An Itachi clone had cordially knocked her out. Apparently there wasn't enough time for him to slit her throat since it quickly disappeared in a puff of smoke. Letting black overrun her vision, the ANBU suddenly decided she needed a vacation. Maybe a beach trip? That reminded her of her last mission and the cause of one of the many scars up and down her arms. Nope, no more beach trips for her. Hm, mountains sounded nice….


	2. Chapter 2

_**A Tiny Nudge Over the Edge…..**_

_**And a one-way ticket to Hell**_

_**Chapter Two**_

_Author's Note: See? I promised you it'd be longer. More talking, more fights, and more. Ah yes, well, this story should be updated pretty quickly since I have quite a few chapters written. Anyways, I got my first review so that's why you guys get an update so soon. Lucky ducks! R&R AND ENJOY!_

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_"Uchiha Itachi, you have been assigned a partner to aid you in the recovery of Uzumaki Naruto, holder of the Kyuubi. You are to infiltrate the Haze Ninja base and retrieve the Kyuubi vessel. You shall meet your comrade tonight at 10:30 sharp, outside the gate of Konoha, and commence your journey to the hideout."_

Such a long, troublesome speech. It was about twenty minutes after ten now, or something like that. Where was this person? Did they forget, or are they just stupid? Or did Konoha ANBU get them...? All the possible reasons were spelling themselves out in Itachi's head.

Kali had agreed to this mission on the sole reason that she was bored. ANBU had deemed her too risky to put on guard these days after the Itachi incident, so why not take up a job for someone? At least it was something to do. Making her way through the Konoha gates, she half-expected a squad of ANBU there to capture her and strip her of her rank. Instead she ended up gaping at Uchiha Itachi himself.

"You..." He breathed irritably, his eyes hardening. "This was...all a trap?" Itachi began forming hand seals unintentionally. "You are a determined little girl...reminds me of my _dear_ little brother…" He smirked, at least pretending like he knew what was happening. Of course, it did not show on his cool outlook. In fact, his face showed no emotion except for disdain.

"_Little _girl! I'm almost nineteen thank you very much!" Kali snapped her eyes locked on his hands. Drawing a kunai she took a small step back and prepared herself for a battle. "And no this isn't a trap for you; I took a mission as a guide." She hissed, her eyes narrowed and moved back again. She still had a bruise on her neck from their previous fight a week ago.

"Hm, I shall take your word for now. Make any wrong move though..." He took out a kunai. "It'll be your last." Itachi growled dangerously, voice full of venom. Then he muttered a 'kuchiose no jutsu' and a small weasel appeared at his feet. He whispered something to it and it scampered off somewhere. "He's scouting." The Uchiha muttered, feeling the need to explain this to an idiot like the kunoichi in front of him.

Kali gave him a short nod and headed for the forest. "Hurry up; we can't risk someone seeing us. Not with the village on high alert." She muttered, almost twenty feet ahead of him by then. Taking yet again to the trees, her breath turned into a white vapor as she inhaled and exhaled quickly. How good it felt to be back on a mission. She knew why older nin still did this, it was addicting.

"Right now, in Akatsuki, I am your superior." The Uchiha leapt into a tree, and began jumping lazily across the branches. "Meaning I should give the orders." He wasn't in the best mood to talk now. But he could put up with a lot. Though at this rate, the kunoichi in front of him would drop dead to the forest floor in two minutes.

Kali huffed and stayed behind him. "Oh really? Just don't give me any stupid orders then, or you'll end up tied upside down by your ankles." She couldn't help but smirk at the thought. Of course, all this talk was a show. Inside she was shaking and having a few minor panic attacks. She had the Uchiha prodigy behind her and a death threat hanging above her head. Lovely.

Itachi swayed. "Yes, yes, try as you may..." He yawned as he examined his purple fingernails. _Ah, crap, the polish is chipping._ He cursed under his breath and continued his inspection. Kali was not on his 'things to worry about' list at the moment. Not one Shinobi had trapped him before, not even Kakashi the Copy Nin. Why was she any different?

Kali, who had somehow fallen behind him snorted. "Oh darn, I just threw away my purple nail polish, do you want the hot pink though? I hear it's a very manly color these days." She said, trying hard not to laugh. Of course, she was keeping a watchful eye out for a random shuriken to come flying at her.

"Oh, I just _adore_ pink..." Sarcasm could've hit something in the face 'cause it was that apparent. It felt he'd been running for hours, even though it was only like…Not even one…It was going to be a long night. "But, unfortunately, I want purple." He felt a nudging on his ankle. The little weasel squeaked something. "Ah. He says there's an ambush at the Konoha gates when we come back."

"We're coming back? Oh, and here I thought you were going to slit my throat while I slept." Kali said, sarcasm literally dripping from her voice. Though, in fact, it was just the rain that had started to fall. "Would you like to stop and get purple nail polish? Or perhaps a lovely shade of blue. Or red, that would match your sharigan. We can even paint that on your nails if you'd like."

And meanwhile, while I'm waiting for my nails to dry, I'll even give you a pedicure! Like hell..." Truth be told, this was a best conversation he'd had in a long time. Most was sarcasm, but, it seemed to keep it going. He had planned to slice out her tongue by now, but wasn't in the mood. "Aren't you going back to your dear ANBU? Aww, too bad, they'll kill you before you can reapply."

"Damn right you're not going to touch my feet! That is the ultimate torture for me, oh crap..." She groaned and shook her head. Her mood went from slightly alright to downright depressed in nearly two seconds flat. "Try and touch me and you'll be kicked so hard, won't even be funny."

Itachi smirked devilishly. Naw, he was in a fairly talkative mood, and that was rare. Very rare. But his little mini-weasel scratched his foot again and squeaked as if to say, 'Shut up, are we there yet?'

"Oi, how close are we to enemy base?" He cleared his throat and grunted seriously. The little animal at his feet rolled it's eyes. _I can't believe I must do anything _he_ says._ It thought boredly about his dumb master.

Kali jumped ahead of him, going up a few branches as well. A kunai was gripped in her left hand as she raced ahead. Personally, she just wanted to get away from Itachi and that evil look he had given her. She shuddered just thinking about it and hurried on. Maybe he'd get killed on accident while she was up ahead rescuing Naruto.

"Excuse me, how far are we?" Itachi repeated his grin fading. Getting Naruto back was a must. The rotten snake would certainly die that way. Haha, _Death by Kyuubi!_ It had a good ring to it. Kali seemed a bit suspicious. "Tell me, are you working for ANBU to rescue the poor fox?" He blurted, though choosing his words carefully.

"Oh wow, you got it on the first try. Yes, I'm working for ANBU on this mission, that's why they had me sit on my butt at home ever since you had to knock me out." She jumped down onto the forest floor in an attempt to get away from him. Instead, she walked straight into a hole in the ground and fell a good ten feet before landing on some lovely spiders. Perfect day, no?

Itachi leapt down and crouched to look into the hole. "Should I help the poor girl? Yes no, maybe so...do it yourself." He sneered, feeling cocky and proud of himself, of course the reason was childish. The little weasel had grown bored and jump down the hole onto Kali's shoulder. "Traitor..." Itachi's mood went from 95 to zilch. "Now, how far are we?"

"I am going to kill you when I get out of this hole!" She snapped, looking up at him after tying kunai to her feet. Slamming them hard into the walls, she quickly scaled the wall. Reaching the top, she felt a wave of panic as she realized how easily he could push her back in. Being trapped in places scared her; enough to make her nearly have a nervous breakdown in fact. So far, she had managed to hide it from everyone, those who did lock her in places often ended up dead and the room blown to tiny bits. Normally very amusing to watch.

He poked her forehead none too gently. "Now, now...let's not be so reckless." He cooed softly. "Have you thought of molding the ground with an earth jutsu to make stairs? No?" Itachi grinned inwardly. _Not so bright. She's a lot like that Kyuubi brat._ He allowed himself a small laugh, but sounded more like a giggle because it was so small. His haunches were beginning to ache a bit, so he stood up and spun on his heel. "Let's go. We're behind, thanks to your little fall...clumsy idiot."

"I'm not the greatest at any other types of jutsu other than taijutsu..." She muttered, rubbing her forehead. _'That hurt, stupid Akatsuki pretty-boy..._' She thought, growling at him. Hurrying to catch up to him, she pulled the kunai from her feet at the same time. "Well, at least your weasel provides good company. Poor thing, having to answer to you all day...And do you know where we're going? Noooooooo you don't. So shut up and let me lead!" Kali hissed, knowing she was certainly pressing a few boundaries.

"Hai, hai..." Itachi waved a hand rather stupidly, realizing how dumb it looked afterwards and quickly dropping it back to his side. "Akatsuki believed you had information on the Haze ninjas, and where they were keeping the Kyuubi. So, what can you tell me?" He asked politely in a weird way. _The weasel's just cranky today, I love him. You don't need to know that though._ Itachi thought of the weasel of his best friend, though it didn't really have a name yet.

"It's another day's run from here. Either we travel through the night and get there half-dead or we stop after dark. It's your call though, _boss."_ Kali couldn't help but laugh and petted the weasel's head. "How can someone like you, have something that's even remotely decent? I mean really, what are the odds?"

"Thank you." He muttered, but was glad that Kali caved in and gave the info. Not that he remembered her name though. He leapt into the trees again, liked the scent of the trees. "We'll travel until nightfall. If my _dear little kunoichi_ agrees." Itachi spat spit-ishly.

"But then I'm going to need a flashlight to do your nails, _dearest._" Kali protested nearly sick with herself for it. Staying on the ground, she was still able to keep up with him easily. Taking a few deep breaths, she closed her eyes and kept walking, not that it mattered. There was just a clearing in front of her.

Well aren't we just the _most generous _little girl!" Itachi blurted without thinking properly. _Damn it, she's even got my thoughts screwed up_. He had an urge to hit his head on something…hard. "Too bad, no flashlight..." The long summer day was coming to an end. He leapt inwards a few branches. "We'll stay a little further in."

"Good plan _oh smart one that I could never hope to be as amazing." _Kali spat the words out like poison, though she did have to admit, it would've been worse if a huge roll of thunder hadn't roared out. Jumping nearly two feet, she was drenched in rain by the time her feet hit the ground again. "Great..."

Itachi stopped about 80 feet in, then stretched out on a fat (widthwise) branch that extended out long enough for his whole body. He closed his eyes and from afar, looked like he died in a tree. His arms were limp and hanging off the sides, his head was tilted to the side a bit and his breaths couldn't be seen in any chest movement from that far away. He was, in fact, tired. After running for a while, putting up with Kali, and everything else today, he was tired.

Kali did something she thought was cruel, though she doubted he didn't deserve it. Dropping down onto him from above, she landed squarely on his stomach with a shriek of laughter. Of course, the landing had been rather hard and now she was sure her legs were going to have bruises, but it was worth it in her book. Not to mention the Uchiha would probably kill her for it.

His eyes snapped open and he coughed up a load of spit, groaning. "Geroff!" He choked out, voice muffled and pained and his wind knocked out. Stupid, lazy moments happened, but why with HER around? I mean, even The Slaughter Master Itachi needed a moment to himself...but no. No, no, no. His body was trying to curl up into a ball, but it wasn't working.

Kali was laughing too hard to move. "You should've seen your face _Itachi-sama_!" She had tears in her eyes now from laughing so hard, though they mixed with rain quickly. That laughter quickly died when a hand wrapped around her throat and squeezed. "Hey…" She panted, gasping for air despite her airway being blocked.

"Do you have any idea how badly I want to kill you right now?" Itachi's eyes narrowed at her and he tightened his grip. It was the fact that if he didn't return with Naruto, he'd be toast. How fitting, being stuck with someone he hated and yet couldn't kill. This had to be a test of his endurance. Akatsuki probably had bets on it. Ya, that was it.

Why? Why, did Akatsuki put him with her? If he'd known it would be like this, he'd have flat-out left the Kyuubi vessel there. Why couldn't this just be normal...this would even be easier with that Inuzuka kid and his dog. "I'll kill you!"


	3. Chapter 3

_**A Tiny Nudge Over the Edge…..**_

_**And a one-way ticket to Hell**_

_**Chapter Three**_

_Author's Note: Hello everyone! Yes, it's me again. I know amazing. xD Anyways, why have I only gotten one review? Ahem, R&R or Kali will attack you. And feed you to Itachi's weasel. Now, read and enjoy!_

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When Kali didn't react to anything Itachi simply sighed inwardly. This girl was a pain. A very large pain that needed to go away. She made him wonder if he should've never joined Akatsuki. Now that was a strange thought. He let go of her neck and sank backwards again, waiting for another chance to scare her.

Kali backed up a few feet and nearly tumbled off the branch as a result. The reason was clear, Itachi's hand was snaking out to wrap around her throat again. Holding her hands out in front of her, she silently begged him not to. His all-knowing smirk was his way of telling her he understood.

"Well then...I can control you now." Itachi sat up cross legged and sighed. After about 3 minutes he stood up and collected a few twigs and sticks for a fire. The fire was small, but warm and had a soft glow. He sat down again and poked the burned sticks with another stick. Bored. "Why were you chosen for this mission?" He looked up at the Kunoichi's face.

Kali ignored his question. "Is it really smart to be setting up a fire on a tree? I mean really..." She murmured, changing the subject. Chewing on her bottom lip, a habit she had when she was bored or nervous, she kept her eyes on the bright orange of the flames.

Itachi rolled his eyes. "Yes, it's small and there's not much smoke at all. Put it out if you're that worried. But, answer me." He blinked, and resettled his gaze on the girl. _She's not comfortable, that's rather obvious..._ he thought stupidly.

"Hn, whatever, I have a name you know. Kali, four letters, not hard to remember oh smart one." She responded shortly, still not answering him. She didn't plan on it anyways. Instead, she drew a shuriken out from a pouch on her right leg and picked the dirt from under her short nails.

"Really, I have better names for you." Itachi snapped back on a rude instinct. _Sucks to be me, doesn't it?_ He considered this boring, sad torture. Nothing more, nothing less. Torture with that girl, Kali, who apparently was concerned with her nails like he was sometimes. He pulled a small bottle out of his pocket and rolled it between his palms. He opened it and began smearing it evenly on his fingernails. "Don't change the subject anyway. Answer me." He glared for a second and returned to his hands.

"Great, call me them then. I would love to hear whatever you've got stuffed up your ugly sleeves." She snapped, thoroughly bored by then. In fact, she even stretched out on the tree limb and closed her eyes. Her hands were behind her head, keeping her from having to worry about bugs in her hair. "I thought you said you were out of nail polish..." She mumbled after a few moments of thinking.

"Fool, do you really think I'd run out?" _She won't answer...why not?_ Itachi finished one hand and leaned on the other, shaking it loosely in the air to dry. Gazing into the sky, looking at the stars among the trees, he realized it was actually calming and had a weird aura. He resituated himself so he was lying on that branch again, it was fairly low. Though he was a bit twitchy now that he remembered what happened last time.

"Oh go to sleep Itachi-sama..." She muttered crossly. Rolling onto her side, se focused on the tree across from her. Its leaves blew easily in a cool breeze and Kali curled herself tightly into a ball.

Itachi yawned and put the cap back on the nail polish, deciding to polish the other hand tomorrow. He shoved it in his pocket and rolled over. "Yes _mom..."_ He was half asleep already. By the time he was near a deep sleep he muttered, "Haha, you called me Itachi-sama..."

Kali smirked and nearly pushed him off the tree. "Excuse me, I don't plan on having children any time soon thank you very much." She made a face at him and went back to trying to fall asleep.

Itachi groaned and shimmied back onto the limb in the same position on his side. He wished sleep would claim him easily, maybe a nice dream of…erm...what did he like? Not much...but oh well. "Let me sleep, we'll leave at sunrise."

She shifted farther away from him. Sitting up, she rested her head on her knees and closed her eyes. "I swear, touch my feet in the middle of the night and I will come after you with a mallet..."

Itachi found himself with an almost-smile on his lips. "A rubber one that squeaks when you hit me?" He said in a mock tone, shifting into a sitting position and trying to nail a bored look onto his face like most of the Nara clan could do at anytime in the world. Especially the youngest. "I'm so scared."

"Keep talking and see what I do to you Itachi-sama..." Kali murmured and yawned. Curling herself into an, if possible, tighter ball, she focused on the leaves in front of her. "You are one of the biggest pains on earth, which is saying a lot since my clan is full of them..."

Itachi laughed darkly. "I know what you mean. I killed all the annoying ones..." He shifted his head slightly. "And now, there's only one left." He started thinking about dear little Sasuke, how the snake had him...because he wanted revenge. _Has he heard about Naruto-kun's capture? Surely he'd try to save him -_ Itachi stopped there. Had Sasuke already saved Naruto?

"Oh please, you haven't met my clan...Only the younger ones are bad though, the ones over fifteen are alright..." Kali muttered, looking up at the sky. "Of course, my sister would be one of them...Biggest pain in the world, worse than me by far..."

"Worse? I'm scared!" He faked a few twitches then lay down with his head on his elbow. Pretending to be dead. "She can't be worse than you...no one is. Stomping on people when they're resting is very un-ladylike _and_ annoying."_ And painful._ His mind whimpered and a small twinge of pain hit his stomach. And then it hit him how un-Itachi he was being. He immediately decided to be mature again.

"It's not all bad...just my close family...Like the Taijutsu competition going on right now. We'll be passing through there during it..." She murmured and shook her head. "You wouldn't win in it. No chakra, or anything other than pure physical skill and talent..." _Wouldn't win even the rookie level..._Kali snickered at the thought.

"My mission is what is most important now. I'm not interested in any competitions." He stated blandly and dully, making a magical transformation back into I'm-so-serious-about-my-work Itachi. "So, you do know the way? You lied." An accusing finger was pointed at Kali. "Explain."

Kali swore under her breath, but shrugged. "Make me Itachi-sama. I hold you in respect, but that doesn't mean I'll do everything you ask." She stated coolly, yawning afterwards. More focused on the ant crawling across the branch than him.

"Make you tell...I wouldn't have said that, Kali-san. Paired with the fact that you're ticklish doesn't look good for you." Itachi was rising slowly as he said his words, letting every vertebrae stack on top of each other one by one. He finally put his head upright and stared at her, a smirk creeping onto his face. Devilish was the only word for him.

Kali moved and sat squarely on her feet. Giving him a bored look, that was really only a very tired and annoyed one, she sighed. "I don't give in easily Itachi-sama..." She muttered and shook her head.

"Starting now, you will." Itachi leapt upwards and out of sight._ You will tell me eventually, but I'd rather know now._ He looked down at Kali, waiting for a reaction; a jump, dashing away, hiding...or anything like that. He wasn't tired, couldn't sleep. What better way to tire himself out than by torturing Kali?

Kali didn't move, but simply lowered her head and nearly fell asleep. Sighing, she stood after a few moments. "Really Itachi-sama, I'm tired, unless you want to know why my clan is in control of the other's around us, I suggest you let me sleep."

Itachi found a slightly better branch to lie on after he came back down. "Hai, hai, cool down." He curled up to try to get warmer. "You're too much like Sasuke. He got mad at me too much." He murmured quietly, squirming around a bit, uncomfortable. He looked at Kali, then remembering his weasel friend, and cancelling the summoning technique before he made an attempt to fall asleep.

Kali made a point to keep from looking at him. In fact, she made a point not to look anywhere near him. Showing him a lovely display of her back, she walked to the end of the branch and looked up. Watching the clouds roll over stars for a few minutes, she sighed and sat down where she was.

All Itachi could see was the back of his eyelids. He wasn't tired, therefore, he couldn't sleep. If it were Kisame here, he'd probably be sparring or listening to the shark/thing talk. But why was it so boring now? After thinking over the meaning of life a few times, sleep grabbed on a dragged him into Lalaland.

Kali sat there, drifting off every once and a while until dawn. Yawning quietly, she nudged Itachi with her foot. "Wake up Itachi-sama. Time to go..." She muttered quietly, nudging him harder. Sighing, she was almost tempted to kick him, though she decided against it after a few minutes of debating.

Itachi opened his eyes and rose slowly and sleepily. "Hai. You lead." He abruptly snapped awake, cracking his knuckles absent mindedly. It sounded quite painful. "You do know the way, correct?" The Uchiha picked up his shuriken holster and tied it back around his thigh; it was kinda uncomfortable to sleep while wearing it.

Kali cringed, but nodded. "Get up then you lazy nin." She snapped, grumbling about her legs being sore. Rolling up her pant legs up to her knees she rolled her eyes. A half dozen kunai holders ran up her legs, packed together so closely that there was not an inch of skin showing apart from a heavily bruised ankle. "Figures..." She mumbled and sighed. Looking up at Itachi she rolled her eyes. "I said get up!"

"I'm awake you stupid girl!" He half-yelled, irritable in the mornings. "Now go, if you're that anxious! I'll follow." Itachi muttered some curses, mixed in with some indecent names and descriptions for Kali. He looked at her leg, thinking how paranoid one must be to have that many kunai bags.

She glared at him and let her foot that had been gently nudging him slam full force into his side. Jumping away, she turned her back to him and sped off, determined to lose the nin behind her. "I SAID HURRY UP!" She shouted, not turning around to face him.

"Damn it…" Itachi gasped and sprinted after her, ready to nail her in the head when he caught up. "I was awake! I was standing up!" He roared, making himself go faster and clenching his jaw painfully. He grabbed a kunai, once Kali was in his sight, and sent it flying close enough to graze her cheek, yet far enough not to be life-threatening.

Kali winced, but didn't slow down. Blood whipped off her cheek and into the air, making it seem as if it were raining blood on the ground. "I know you were awake you baka, I did it for fun." She said in an almost carefree tone of voice. Stopping suddenly, she jumped down onto the ground and took up a full sprint on the ground.

_I'm gonna kill you before this is over! _Inner Itachi screamed in fury and pure, unrefined anger. The real Itachi kept his cool. He followed Kali, as he said he would, onto the forest floor. "Where are we going?" He said coolly, catching up along side her.

Kali turned to look at him. "Shut up and follow Itachi-sama." She replied matching his tone of voice perfectly. Speeding up slightly, she pulled ahead of him again. Knowing full well they'd have to stop by noon for lunch and a break, she figured an early morning sprint wouldn't hurt. Of course, there was a possibility that Itachi would get left behind...

Itachi also sped up. "For putting up with you, I deserve to know." He sneered proudly, mentally preparing himself to receive back-talk. He dawdled a bit, looking at the birds overhead. They were growing quite annoying with their I'm-so-happy songs and look-at-me chirps. Drawing attention to themselves. It reminded him of a certain female ninja.

Kali came to a dead halt as the forest suddenly cut off. Teetering off the edge of a tall cliff, she yelped. Wind milling her arms, she ended up sitting down. Backing up, she looked up in alarm as shuriken rained down on her…..


End file.
